Tuesday, April 14, 2009

It's unfortunate that Veterans, especially Disabled Veterans, will be stigmatized but really, this was never in doubt.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a report titled: Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.

The report was prepared by the Extremism and Radicalization Branch, Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division and coordinated with the FBIThere have been a number of reports similar to this in the past.

But, this report really focuses on the current economic crisis and how it, along with political strife, can aid the recruitment efforts of extremist organizations.

I'll let you read it and decide how much rings true.

However, the most disturbing part of the report is the mention of veterans and how they are portrayed. Read below:

(U) Disgruntled Military Veterans

(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of extremists—including lone wolves or small terrorist cells—to carry out violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.

— (U) After Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990-1991, some returning military veterans—including Timothy McVeigh—joined or associated with rightwing extremist groups.

— (U) A prominent civil rights organization reported in 2006 that “large numbers of potentially violent neo-Nazis, skinheads, and other white supremacists are now learning the art of warfare in the [U.S.] armed forces.”

— (U//LES) The FBI noted in a 2008 report on the white supremacist movement that some returning military veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have joined extremist groups.

Of particular note is the mention of veterans as "disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war."

This thinly-veiled reference to PTSD does nothing paint to veterans in a good light... in the minds of many. It just reinforces the "wacko warrior" image veterans have fought so long to dispel. -- Larry Scott at VA Watchdog dot Org

Update:Huffington Post claims that Michelle Malkin and redstate are coming unglued over this Homeland Security report. I hope this gets pushed out in the open. Perhaps we can have a national discussion on it. Possibly stop the vitriol from the likes of FAUX News, Glenn Beck and Ru$h Limbaugh, however, I doubt it will stop people from hating and the sick ones from killing.

So, I have a question for Malkin: Are you saying that mainstream conservatives are now right-wing extremists?

Because, you know, the report -- which in fact is perfectly accurate in every jot and tittle -- couldn't be more clear. It carefully delineates that the subject of its report is "rightwing extremists," "domestic rightwing terrorist and extremist groups," "terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks," "white supremacists," and similar very real threats described in similar language.